It’s a new year, y’all! And thanks to our First on the First subject du jour, I’m kicking the year off by baking with an entire twelve months worth of richness- Sticky Toffee Pudding!

I can remember the first time I had sticky toffee pudding- I was at at Rose & Crown Pub at Epcot’s British Pavilion trying to hold custody of an amazing waterfront table long enough to see Illuminations so I was slowly and systematically ordering my way down the appetizer menu when things looked appealing… which left me with limited options as Americanized traditional British pub grub just isn’t my cuppa tea. After exhausting all of my appetizer options, I decided to make friends with the dessert menu just in time for fireworks which is where I happened upon sticky toffee pudding. By name it doesn’t seem very appealing but my patient yet slightly exasperated waitress recommended it so I decided to give it a go… and it was amazing! Tender and moist, sweet but not cloying, with a depth of flavor I had never experienced in dessert. Fireworks! An A+ to my young palate.

In the years since, I’ve tried sticky toffee pudding elsewhere and never really enjoyed it. It always seems too sweet, excessively dense, and pointlessly rich. I’ve not had it again at WDW though, so maybe there is a bit a ever present Disney magic in their recipe. Or maybe it’s the fact that without the accompaniment of spectacular fireworks, sticky toffee pudding is just another dessert worthy of critique.

Either way, when I set out to make sticky toffee pudding my own I knew I wouldn’t be serving it next to fireworks and a spherical video display globe so I would probably notice if I produced a dessert with cloying sweetness- talk about pressure!

A little googling taught me that the cake portion of most sticky toffee pudding is usually made with Guiness. First problem. We aren’t Guiness drinkers outside of Ireland. Just like we aren’t Pilsner Urquell drinkers outside of the Czech Republic. We like our food at its best and freshest, so we apply the same rule to our beer in this household. The Hubs seemed convinced that his current favorite beer, Founders Breakfast Stout, would be the ideal ingredient for sticky toffee pudding and I was inclined to agree. It’s brewed with flaked oats, bitter chocolate, and Sumatra and Kona coffee.

Given that it’s my husband’s favorite beer right now I also decided I wanted it to have a decent presence in the toffee sauce, which would also help to temper the sweetness. The flavor profile of the beer also seemed to be begging for an extra espresso kick in the sauce, and who am I to deny anyone a little extra caffeine?

As a final solution to the richness/sweetness/density overload I find in sticky toffee pudding, I decided to pour the sauce over the cake just as it is served. But feel free to pour half of the toffee sauce on the cake immediately to let to soak in should you prefer.

Oats… coffee… maybe we should just call this Breakfast Sticky Toffee Pudding. That works, right?

And yes, in case you are wondering, the toffee sauce is killer in a latte.

You’ve been warned.

Breakfast Stout Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding Ingredients:

6 large dates, pitted

1 cup room temperature breakfast stout carefully poured

1 tsp baking soda

6 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup + 2 tbs granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour minus 1 tbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Espresso StoutToffee Sauce Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, tightly packed

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 tbs breakfast stout

Directions: Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper covering bottom and sides.

Place the pitted dates in a bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the beer to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda. (It will fizz up a lot.) Pour the beer mixture over the dates. Let cool to room temperature.

Transfer the dates to a food processor using a slotted spoon. Add a little of the beer mixture and process until a paste forms. Continue to process, gradually adding the rest of the beer mixture, until the mixture is very smooth. Scrape the date paste into a bowl and keep it covered until ready to use.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and mix on low speed just until incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half the date mixture and mix just until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining date mixture, and finally the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the batter is uniform in color and no streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway and continue to bake for another 12 to 18 minutes, until a tester comes out clean when inserted in the center and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. using the parchment, lift cake out of pan onto a cutting board. Remove crusts and cut into 2×2 square slices to serve. Serve at once, smothered in Espresso Stour Toffee Sauce, or reheat for 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven if serving later.

Bring sugar, cream, espresso powder, beer and butter to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow boiling to subside before spooning over cake slices. Store in refrigerator and rewarm gently before using.

Check out some other fabulous Sticky Toffee Pudding Options from our other First on the First bakers:

Let me just lead off with this- I know this doesn’t help anyone with their holiday gift giving since Christmas is now over. Sorry about that! In the few days leading up to the Christmas, I was far too busy finishing off gifts for friends and family to type anything up- I just figured I’d blog our food gift recipes from this holiday season sometime in January and queue them up to post next winter when I had time to take a few proper pictures and people had homemade gifts on the brain once again. (I can’t even begin to imagine how awesome it might feel to be 10 months ahead!)

Flatteringly enough though, I’ve gotten quite a few requests from friends wanting the recipes for the gifts I made this year and it’s far easier to share them here than via email so I I’ve decided to neglect my dreams of preplanned posts in the spirit of kitchen collegiality.

Because who doesn’t love great bacon and amazing beer? That you can spread on a warm biscuit.

Shockingly, some people don’t love bacon and beer… even when spread on a warm biscuit.

And some of them are really great people with whom I am dear friends… which meant I had to have another homemade gift option this year. Since the arrival of the Nespresso machine my amazing husband gifted me during my bout with mono, I’ve become a bit of a latte devotee so I decided to also make homemade Spicy Gingerbread Syrup- thin for my fellow latte drinkers and thicker for my non-coffee friends to use on desserts or pancakes. The best part is that it is super easy and uses ingredients you already have in your pantry!

Directions: Working in three additions, spread bacon in a single layer in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until browned, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Remove the fat and clean the pan between each addition of bacon. After the last addition, reserve browned bits and 1 tbs fat in the pan (slightly less if your bacon had a considerably high fat content).

Add shallots and garlic to the pan and cook over medium heat until translucent, about five minutes. Add spices and cook one minute, stirring constantly. Increase the heat to high and add the beer and maple syrup. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently to incorporate browned bits from bottom of the pan. Add vinegar and brown sugar and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add the bacon back to the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces to a thick glaze.

Transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse until it reaches your desired consistency. Transfer to glass jars and refrigerate at least one hour before using. Jam will keep up to four weeks in a refrigerated, tightly sealed glass jar.

Makes about five half pint jars.

Spicy Gingerbread Syrup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/4 cups organic granulated sugar

1 1/2 tbs ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground clove

generous 1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Combine all ingredients except the vanilla extract in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn down heat to a simmer and allow to thicken while simmering- 10 to 15 minutes- until it is the consistency of maple syrup. Refrain from stirring.

Once it reaches the correct consistency, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool before pouring into a lidded jar.